Seafood & Fish
2025 recipes found
Fish Tacos al Pastor
A chief contender for dinner party raving, these savory-sweet tacos de pescado al pastor, from the chef Luis Herrera of Ensenada restaurant in Brooklyn, are impressive parcels of celebration. Grilling the pineapple gets you close to the charred flavor of al pastor, “in the style of a shepherd,” without the traditional rotating vertical spit, a method of barbecuing lamb that Lebanese immigrants brought to Mexico in the late 19th century. In place of the more common pork are grilled, buttery whitefish fillets stained with brick-red chile sauce. This knockout adobo, redolent of raisins and raked with warm spices, is a labor of love for the people you love, so lean into the process. You can make the adobo and pineapple pico de gallo a day ahead, and even marinate the fish the night before. Then, on taco day, just grill the fish to serve, complete with grilled corn, a cooler of lagers and the best corn tortillas you can find — the kinds that slacken and steam over the fire. Enjoy these DIY tacos with your favorite salsa or hot sauce, and don’t skip the lime wedges; they provide the acid. Any leftover adobo can be used to marinate chicken, pork and vegetables throughout the week, or kept frozen for up to three months.
Saimin
This beloved noodle soup — unique to Hawaii and its local food tradition and thought to be a mashup of ramen, pancit and chow mein — is all about simplicity, according to Mark Noguchi, a chef and educator at Punahou School in Honolulu. “That is how we are preserving a part of our culture,” Mr. Noguchi said. His saimin recipe is made of a dashi-based broth enhanced with dried shrimp and black peppercorns, saimin noodles, wontons stuffed with pork and scallions and all the fixings: barely set eggs, char siu, kamaboko (Japanese fish cake) and scallions. Cook the hot components of the dish — broth, noodles, eggs, wontons — so they finish at the same time and can be assembled together quickly for hot, happy slurping.
Pinakbet
Ricardo Garza, a firefighter and emergency medical technician at Station 8 in Honokaʻa, Hawaii, learned to make this Filipino stew, brimming with fatty pork, fishy patis and lots of vegetables (Japanese eggplant, baby okra, bitter melon) from his grandmother. He has now passed it on to his colleagues at Station 8, who are cooking and riffing on it. If you find winged beans, a favorite of Mr. Garza’s, go for it and use eight ounces each of winged beans and long beans (instead of one full pound of long beans). Just trim the winged beans, separate the pods and add them to the pinakbet with the bitter melon.
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Salt Fish Fritters (Stamp and Go)
A winning combination of salt cod, thyme, Scotch bonnet pepper, and scallion makes these crisp, savory fritters irresistible.
Roasted Gochujang Salmon
Quick and easy, this five-ingredient weeknight recipe yields flavorful, flaky fish with minimal effort. If gochujang (spicy Korean fermented soybean paste) or doenjang (a milder bean paste) are not available, feel free to substitute with harissa paste or miso. Because salmon is already an oily fish, it doesn’t need extra fat to protect it from overcooking in the oven. Once cooked, the salmon fillets can hold up to 4 days, refrigerated, and are equally great eaten at room temperature. Enjoy warm with rice, torn into salads, or tucked into a sandwich.
Grilled Salmon Steaks
Salmon is the perfect fish for grilling: It’s rich-flavored and intrinsically fatty, which keeps it from drying out when exposed to the high, dry heat of the fire. So why do so many cooks leave half the fish stuck to the grate when grilling it? Nerves are part of it: The moment you put the fish on the grill, you may feel compelled to move it, thereby proving to yourself it hasn’t stuck. When fish first hits the grill, it will stick — that’s the nature of piscine protein. The secret is to let it grill for a few minutes without touching it, after which the proteins will release from the hot metal. These two other techniques guarantee stick-free fish: First, select fish steaks, which are less prone to falling apart than fillets. Second, slather the fish with mayonnaise-mustard sauce before grilling. The mayonnaise acts as a lubricant to keep the fish from sticking.
Tuna and Tomato Salad
Tuna, tomatoes and onions dressed with oil and vinegar hit all the notes of a summer salad: rich, refreshing, crunchy and fast. It’s no wonder the combination is common throughout the Mediterranean (especially in Spain and Portugal). As with all few-ingredient, no-cook dishes, the deliciousness will depend on your ingredients, so use summer-ripe tomatoes, fruity olive oil and quality tuna. (You could also add green or Kalamata olives, capers, cucumbers, white beans or herbs such as parsley, basil or oregano.) The tomato juices will blend with the oil and vinegar to make a vinaigrette you’ll want to sop every drop of, so serve this dish alongside crusty bread, grains, potatoes or eggs.
Rhubarb Roasted Salmon
In this speedy, rosy weeknight dinner, a tart ginger-rhubarb sauce lends brightness to rich, buttery roasted salmon fillets. It’s used in two ways here. First, it’s spooned over the fillets before roasting, allowing the bits of rhubarb to singe and caramelize in the oven’s high heat. Then, more sauce is served alongside for a fresher, zippier bite. To balance the rhubarb’s astringency, a few tablespoons of sugar are stirred into the sauce, but feel free to adjust the amount to taste. It should strike a balance between tangy and sweet. For the pinkest, prettiest sauce, seek out the reddest rhubarb stalks you can find.
Cedar Plank Salmon
In the Pacific Northwest, Native Americans smoked salmon on cedar, embodying the belief that what grows together goes together. On backyard grills, planks insulate the salmon from the flames, so the fish stays tender, and they prevent it from sticking to the grates. Purchase food-grade planks from a grocery or hardware store, then soak the planks in water so they don’t flare. Heat the plank on the grill until smoldering, then add the fish. The steam and smoke rising from the cedar gently cook the fish and infuse it with woodsy flavor. Salmon kissed by cedar is such a special combination that additional seasonings are not needed.
Roasted Shrimp Cocktail With Horseradish Sauce
Roasting shrimp for shrimp cocktail intensifies their sweet saline flavor and makes them exceptionally plump and tender, with less chance of overcooking than the traditional poaching. Then, instead of being paired with the usual bright red cocktail sauce, these shrimp are served with a horseradish-forward take on a classic French rémoulade, which is both bracing and creamy. It’s best to season the sauce to taste: Adding more ketchup makes it sweeter and pinker; more lemon juice makes it tangier; more horseradish makes it sharper.
Salmon Teriyaki
Salmon teriyaki is a classic for many reasons, most notably because it is crisp and tender, sweet and savory all at once. This quick, single-skillet rendition cooks the salmon most of the way on its skin so that the flesh is tender and the skin is shattery-crisp. In the last few minutes, the fish is glossed in teriyaki sauce. (The “teri” in teriyaki means “gloss” or “luster.”) You could add a smidgen of chopped Thai chiles or grated garlic or ginger to the sauce if you like, or just embrace the allure of its sweet saltiness.
Sheet-Pan Garlicky Shrimp and White Beans
Everything — the shrimp, the beans and the garlic bread — cook together on one pan for an under 30-minute meal that requires very little cleanup. Canned cannellini beans get a little crispy in the high heat and their mellow creaminess serves to bring the other ingredients together, but you could also use any cooked bean you have on hand. The only real bit of work is making a pungent paste of garlic to spread on the bread, but if you are really pressed for time, just rub each piece of bread with the cut side of a garlic clove. (The flavor will be milder.) If you keep shrimp and bacon in the freezer, just thaw the shrimp in a bowl of warm water while you prep the garlic bread, and no need to defrost the bacon; just cut it up and use it frozen.
Dry-Brined Salmon
Dry-brining salmon — that is, salting it and letting it rest overnight — has a number of noticeable effects on the fish once cooked. Dry-brined salmon will have a firmer, juicier bite that doesn’t become chalky even if you accidentally overcook it. Because salt can break down some proteins in the meat, you’ll find that dry-brined salmon does not leak out white coagulated albumin as it cooks. It will make the salmon virtually nonstick (even in a bare metal pan), and the skin comes out as crisp as a kettle chip. Perhaps most important, because the salmon releases less moisture as it cooks, it greatly reduces the amount of hot oil that spatters out of the pan.
Shrimp a la Plancha
This simple but intensely flavorful dish combines two classic Spanish tapas. The first is shrimp, head and shells intact, roasted on a bed of hot salt on a plancha. The second is camarones al ajillo, garlic shrimp sizzled in olive oil in a cazuela (shallow clay dish). While not strictly traditional, this dish combines the best of both recipes — and fairly bursts with Spanish flavors thanks to the flavor-boosting powers of searing hot metal.
Saltfish Buljol (Salted Cod Salad)
Salted cod has a long and venerable history in the Caribbean islands. It is at once classic and current; a relic from the trans-Atlantic slave trade that has been repurposed into delicious relevance. In this dish, bright, spiky notes come from the addition of lime juice, habanero chiles, fresh tomatoes and a bevy of fresh, grassy aromatics. Salted cod comes packaged either boneless or bone-in. You can use either, but boneless salted cod is a tad easier to prepare than bone-in. When working with salted cod, it is imperative to desalinate the fish by either an overnight soak or by rinsing it prior to boiling. Depending on your preference, you may need to boil the cod twice and change the water in between each boil to rid the cod of excess salt.
Sheet-Pan Chile Crisp Salmon and Asparagus
A mixture of chile crisp, soy sauce and honey coats salmon bites that roast alongside scallions and asparagus for a quick and colorful weeknight dinner. While the salmon doesn’t need to be cubed, it’s an easy and enjoyable way to eat it; the bite-size pieces can be served over rice, cooked grains or big salads. Much like a grain bowl component, this recipe is versatile, and works as an add-on or base. Finish it as you’d like: Try some gently torn fresh cilantro, toasted sesame seeds, flaky sea salt, lime slices or an extra drizzle of chile crisp.
Thai-Style Crunchy Vegetable Salad
Inspired by Thai green papaya salad, this vibrant dish boasts a colorful medley of thinly sliced raw veggies; they’re electrified by a lime-and-fish sauce vinaigrette. This recipe builds upon a base of fresh asparagus, which is supercrisp, with a sweet, mildly grassy flavor, and cherry tomatoes. You can combine them with any mix of vegetables that are on hand: Radishes, cucumbers, carrots, snap peas, cabbage and yellow bell peppers are all great additions, each bringing their unique flavor and texture to the party. The just-tossed salad is bright and crunchy, but if you happen to wind up with leftovers, let the vegetables marinate in the dressing overnight and they transform into a pickled side dish that’s delightful in sandwiches or with grilled steak.
Ginger-Scallion Steamed Fish
Connie Chung wanted to add steamed whole fish — a dish served at the Cantonese banquet meals of her childhood — to the menu at Milu, her restaurant in New York City. But to make it work in a fast-casual setting, she needed to make some changes. She wanted to keep the tender fish heady with soy sauce, ginger and scallions, but it had to hold up during delivery and be easy to eat. She landed on steaming cubed fish with soy sauce and a ginger-scallion stock, a forgiving method that isn’t stinky or splattery and results in deeply seasoned, buttery fish. While any firm fish works in this adaptation, Ms. Chung uses salmon, her mom’s suggestion. At Milu, this dish is served with rice, charred broccoli, a watercress-cilantro salad and a ginger-scallion oil, but would also be great in a nori hand roll, over salad greens or tossed with ramen.
Bengali-Style Mustard Oil Fish
Mustard oil is a key ingredient in many South Asian dishes, but is especially important in Bengali cuisine. Its earthy, astringent flavor can bring complexity to a simple cooked vegetable, pickle or tadka. This weeknight dish is inspired by bhetki paturi, a mustard oil-coated fish that gets cooked in a banana leaf. In this recipe, foil is a stand-in for banana leaf (though feel free to use the leaf if you have one!), steaming the fish gently and infusing it with flavor. Coconut and mustard oil are a stellar combination here, as the sweetness of the coconut tempers the bitterness of the mustard oil and seeds. The juices that pool around the cooked fish are especially delicious; be sure to spoon those over the cooked rice.
Bò Né (Steak and Eggs)
Bò né (which translates from Vietnamese to “dodging beef”) is often served for breakfast, but is delicious any time of day: The meal consists of sizzled beef (bò) and fried eggs, with a smattering of pâté and butter dashed across a crisp baguette. Bò né is generally served alongside a salad plate, and offered on roadsides throughout Vietnam, and in Vietnamese restaurants all over the globe. You can partake in each component individually, or fill your baguette to make a sandwich, or figure out a third way that works best for you; there are as many routes to eat bò né as there are diners, and each of them is flawless. Purchasing the pâté and butter from your local Vietnamese market or diner would be ideal (just ask if they sell it by the pound), but whatever you can find will be solid. And if you’re short on time, simply seasoning the beef with salt and black pepper also works.
Phở Gà (Chicken Pho)
The broth is the thing here: Simmering wings and drumsticks draws out the very essence of chicken, while toasted spices and charred onions, jalapeño and ginger bring bittersweetness and heat. Bone-in chicken not only results in more flavorful meat to eat with rice noodles, but also lends body and depth to the soup. You also can use chicken backs, feet and necks, if you have them. Cooks prepare phở gà in countless ways, creating a savory soup fragrant with alliums, spices and herbs. Here, cilantro stems add their aroma to the broth, and the leaves freshen the whole dish, along with bean sprouts and basil. The broth and chicken can be prepared and refrigerated for up to five days ahead. Any leftover broth can be frozen for up to three months.
Grilled Lemongrass Pork
This recipe was inspired by thịt heo nướng xả, the sweet, salty and aromatic grilled pork dish that is popular in many Vietnamese restaurants in the United States. Lean pork steaks cooked over high heat can dry out quickly, but a quick 15-minute soak in a mixture of baking soda and water ensures a moist and juicy steak. Baking soda causes a chemical reaction on the surface of the meat, which makes it more difficult for the proteins to bond during cooking or grilling. This means you end up with tender, not tough, meat. Shoulder steaks work well here because they have more flavor than lean pork chops and can take high heat and a strong marinade better than other thin cuts. Your butcher can cut the steaks for you or you can use thin cut pork chops.
Butter-Poached Shrimp With Dill Mayonnaise
Poaching shrimp in a combination of butter, lemon juice and white wine gives them a bright, tangy flavor and plump, succulent texture, and it takes only about five minutes. Served in bowls with a little of their broth and a dollop of dill-speckled mayonnaise, they’re rich and soupy, perfect with a hunk of crusty bread on the side to mop up every last drop.
Shrimp Tacos
Spiced shrimp and quick-pickled red cabbage fill corn tortillas for dressed-up tacos that are easy to put together and sure to be a favorite. The seasoned shrimp is cooked in a heated skillet for a slight char, but resist the temptation to move the pieces before the contact side is properly browned. You can keep the add-ons simple with slices of creamy avocado, bits of fresh cilantro and acidic bursts from lime slices. Or bulk up with dollops of guacamole, chunky pico de gallo, and sour cream. The choice is yours!